[Ham-Computers] RE: Computer Gets Stuck on Bootup

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

OK, a 933MHz P-III isn't too bad and is still fairly usable for most people.  Aside from the random reboots, one thing concerns me...it was probably "upgraded" to WinXP - OS "upgrades" (especially Windows upgrades) can lead to problems of their own - usually due to incompatible drivers left over from the previous version. 

I wonder if the problems existed prior to the upgrade or if the problems were the reason for the upgrade (hoping that XP would solve the problem(s)).  Regardless, the problems exist now and need to be fixed.  Knowing if WinXP was an upgrade over Win2K would be very useful in determining if we should keep the OS the way it is (and find/fix the problems) or re-install the OS.

Let's try one thing first.  CHKDSK can not fix problems if the volume being checked is in use (if you boot from a hard drive you want to check, that volume is in use).  All it can do is report a general condition of the drive.  It also sounds like you ran CHKDSK from the "Run..." box since it's closing the Command Prompt once it's done.  Let's run CHKDSK again, but this time, we'll start a Command Prompt first and also include the "fix" parameter.

Open a Command Prompt (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt).  Once the text based Command Prompt comes up, type in the following:

  chkdsk /f

CHKDSK should respond that it can't run because the volume is in use.  Answer "Y" to let Windows run CHKDSK at next boot.  Once done, close the Command Prompt and restart the system.  During the boot sequence, CHKDSK should run (you can watch the progress on-screen).  Once it finishes, it will either reboot the system or continue into Windows.  Hopefully, the problems you're experiencing are due to logical disk errors - if so, CHKDSK should fix them.  BTW, the "/f" parameter instructs CHKDSK to attempt to fix any problems it finds.  Without the "/f" parameter, CHKDSK will only report errors - it won't fix them.

Let us know how the system runs after CHKDSK.  If it's still rebooting, there's a couple more things to try before it's time to call the local tech (or re-install the OS).  Oh, one more thing - is there any type of Anti-virus program running on the system?


73,

  - Aaron, NN6O


-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Ham-Computers] Computer Gets Stuck on Bootup

Jeff and Aaron, thank you for your replies and help.  Here's a little more information about the computer:

Hardware:  Computer is a Micron ClientPro Cn
Pentium III 933 MHz processor; 256 MB RAM; 40GB hard drive
10/100 network interface card, 3Com 56 Kbps fax/modem, 250 MB Zip drive, DVD/CD-ROM drive, CD-RW drive, and 
1.44 MB floppy drive.
Monitor is Micron 21" high-resolution monitor.
Printer is HP 840C Color DeskJet

Running Windows XP Professional version 2002

System came with Windows 2000 Professional, not sure when it was changed to Windows XP.  Also, I can't find the disk for Windows XP, which leads to a bunch more questions...  I found a bunch of disks that came with the computer, but they all related to the original software, Windows 2000.

There is no scandisk, not in system tools or anywhere else.  Ran chkdsk, but no useful information.  It opens a small window with a DOS screen, takes about a minute to run, and the window closes automatically before I can read everything.

Ran disk cleanup and defrag.  Disk has about 77% available space.

Is there any way to check this disk for problems, since scandisk isn't available?

Carole